The iPhone and iPad app, Drafts, is an excellent way to quickly jot down a note without worrying about where it goes. But if you dig deeper, it's far more than that—it's a speed dial for all your text based work, a text app launcher of sorts—and it has replaced every writing app I have on my iPad and iPhone.

What makes Drafts immediately interesting is how quick and easy it is to take down a quick note. Drafts understands that it's a mobile app, and subsequently, every time you launch Drafts it opens up to a new, blank page. You write first, then decide where to send it second. You can keep these notes within Drafts, or configure it to work with other popular services like Dropbox, Evernote, or Simplenote (among many others). On top of that, Drafts supports multiple email clients, social network clients, and task apps.

In short, you can use Drafts to control every single text based action you do on your iOS device. Here's how to get started with it.

Advertisement

Configure Your Apps, Accounts, and Syncing

Drafts can sync and work with a ton of different services provided you have the apps installed on your iPhone. Even if you don't use the apps, you can use Drafts to kick text over to built-in apps, including Messages and Mail.

Step 1: Configure Accounts

The first thing you should do in Drafts is set up any accounts you use that integrate directly with Drafts. This includes Evernote, Dropbox, Facebook, and Twitter. Tap the arrow on the right above the keyboard (upper right on iPad) then scroll down the Settings (or just tap the gear icon on the iPad version). Under your Accounts, link the services you want to link.

In the case of Twitter and Facebook, you can use Drafts as a means to quickly write a tweet or status update without actually opening either app. With Dropbox, you save files directly to Dropbox, or Append notes (we'll talk about that more in a minute). Linking to Evernote links Drafts to your default notebook in Evernote.

Step 2: Manage All Your Actions

As of this writing, Drafts supports 35 different actions that trigger different apps. Drafts automatically only includes actions for apps that you have installed. For instance, if you use Echofon for Twitter, you won't see Tweetbot, and vice versa. If you use a lot of different apps, this can make Drafts confusing.

Thankfully, it's easy to customize the order of the Actions. In the settings panel, tap Manage Actions > Arrange. Here you can rearrange the order in which Drafts displays Actions, or double-tap to remove them completely. Set it with your most used Actions on the top, and you'll get more out using Drafts in the long run.

Here's Why You Should Use Drafts: Draft, Send, Repeat

So, now that you're set up, it's time to start really using Drafts. Here are some of my favorite uses I've found for it that aren't immediately evident when you start using it.

One Writing App to Rule Them All

The core of what makes Drafts awesome is the fact that you can use it as an app launcher for a ton of other apps. It is your starting point for 35 different writing tools, and you'll find Drafts infinitely more useful if you use it that way.

I've had Drafts installed for a little while, but it sat on the second page of my homescreen. One day, I pushed it over to the dock, and everything changed. I now use it for every piece of writing I want to do—emails, Simplenote, notes, and Day One. Why? Because I don't have to worry about naming anything, or contextualizing a note in a larger scheme. I just dump my thought, move on, and push it over when I have more time.

Quickly Create Calendar Events

With the events, you can quickly write a note, select the Event action, and create a new event in Calendar without ever opening your calendar app. This is great when you just need to add a new event and don't want the (possible) terror of opening up your calendar and finding a billion other things.

Markdown Support with Preview, and Email Export

Want to send out an email with some fancy formatting? Or do you just want a pretty decent, cheap Markdown editor? Drafts can do both. Type up your note in standard Markdown format, preview it, and then send it straight to Mail (or Sparrow). Drafts also has full support for TextExpander Touch to make writing even faster.

Save Those Contacts You Don't Want in Your Address Book

Need to save a list of contractors you have bidding on a home improvement project? Or a collection of all the nice people you met at a party, but probably won't ever call? Maybe you want a quick place to dump web links for a research project and don't want to dirty up your Instapaper account? Draft's Link Mode lets you do just that. Drop any address, phone number, or URL into a new note, tap the link icon in the top right, and Drafts kills the keyboard, disables editing, and makes everything tappable.

Append to Dropbox: My Favorite Idea Dumping Method Out There

Append to Dropbox is new in Drafts 2.0, and it's one of the more interesting features. With Append to Dropbox enabled, Drafts creates a Journal.txt file in your Dropbox folder. When you write up a note and select the Append to Dropbox action, your note is automatically added to the text file.

This ends up creating a gigantic list of different notes, without you ever having to worry about what came before or after. You can use this in a number of ways. I use it for my rolling To D'oh! list, but it could also be used for to do lists, generic idea dumps, grocery lists, and more. Essentially, it's a dead simple way to stuff a ton of ideas into a single text file without ever having to open the actual text file.

I used to hide from my mistakes as if recognizing them was an acknowledgement of fundamental,…
Read more Read more

Drafts has some limited syncing features (using Simperium), but it's purpose isn't necessary to replace your feature-packed writing apps. It's more of an app that gets you started. Drafts lets you quickly kick ideas out of your head and through to another service without having to worry about anything.